I haven't had a tattoo yet but when I was talking to the guy while he was doing it he told me if I could handle the brand; I can handle a tattoo with no problem. It hurt like a mofo whenever he went down on a fresh line but the pain was like second-quick.
And haha yeah it was really sore right after but that's nothing compared to how it felt yesterday/today. I can't wait until it starts scaring over, I'm hoping for some sweet raising/keloiding action.

Well, my tattoo guy's son was ill so I was not inked yesterday : ( Hopefully soon...

Branding looks WAY more painful than tattooing!!! I hope it heals well. What are you treating it with? I use A&D for the first 24 hours then use tattoo goo until it heals.

Sad =[. I was suppose to see my piercer about a check-up on it but he left right before I got there because he got called in to his second job.
Me too! I can't wait to start getting to pick at it, it's just asking for it at this point 0_o. I'm not suppose to do anything with it yet until I get to see him again so I am not completely sure.

I have four, and only one that I regret. I have a pink/orange gecko around my left ankle, a flower on my right shoulder, a symbol representing the moon phases on my right ankle and a chinese symbol on my left shoulder (that's the one I regret). I got my first one when I was 17, it's kind of shoddy work. The colors are all wrong and the lines aren't clean. After that I found a much better artist who did my last three. I love my other three, especially my gecko because my mom also has one...it's something that I can look at and feel close to her no matter where I am. Has anyone had any backlash from family about their ink? Every time I see my grandmother it's always "I wish you hadn't done that to yourself." It's starting to get on my nerves, I mean I've had them for 6 years and she's known for the whole 6 years, why keep bringing it up?

I have only one which at the moment is all I plan on getting. It took my over 5 years to get up the nerve to get and I don't regret it a bit. It's of an angel holding a shamrock with a ribbon wrapped around it. The angel is for my Mom's parents who died 2 years ago and my brother who died 10 years ago. The shamrock is also for him since he was a St. Patty day baby. The ribbon is for my mom who's a 9 year survivor of ovarian cancer. You can see it on my avatar.

Recently got the Soulfly Clan/Tribe Tattoo and last year I had the Peace Dove and the Bat/Moon touched up (they really needed it as the bat/moon were done in the '90s and the dove in the 80s)

To be able to add my tattoo!!! My right upper arm is all outlined and partially colored, looks great except for all the nasty scab and peeling.

What do you guys use to keep the tat moist while it's healing? How often do you wash it?

Thanks!!

I washed all of my ink (24+ hours) with that dove soap that is fragrance/color free and used fragrance free lubriderm to keep it moist.

I washed them every day in the shower, maybe twice a day towards the beginning, but as all of my work is on my torso they weren't in contact with anything but a clean T-shirt. Anything exposed on your arms/wrists/anything like that, might need to be cleaned a little more as it would come into contact with more germs.

This will be my first attempt @ posting pics, so let's see how this goes. This isn't all of my tattoos but I didn't want to go completely overboard w/ the pics. Haha.

1st - back of my calves, bows.

2nd - start of my 1/2 sleeve which is a phoenix

3rd - lotus flower on back of my neck

4th - matching bff tattoo on my right foot

The backlash from my family isn't anything I'm going to pay attention to.

My grandmother, who was so conservative, religious, and 89 years old, saw me sitting crosslegged on the floor packing my suitcase to leave after visiting her, and I failed to cover up my first two tattoos: a compass star on the top of my left foot, and a Roman numeral II with leaves around it above my right ankle. I got them the weekend after her son, my adoptive father, passed away, as a sort of celebration of life and reconnecting with my sister. It's one of my treasured memories that she said "those had better not be real, dear" with a smile on her face. I was so unsure! But she sat with me and I explained their significance, and she ended up telling me she liked them.

I don't care about anyone else's negatives after that.


One of my incentives is to get two of the 3-4 "wish inks" on my list after I've reached some goals.

They are definitely all about loving myself and reflecting on how far I've come in my life with that, so it's extra awesome to me!

I just got three of my (small) tattoos lasered today- the ones I can't hide for a job (hand, wrist, behind ear). This is the second treatment, and ow ow ow! I think my skin didn't get a chance to heal all the way, because it's so much more sensitive this time than the first.

My response to losing tattoos? Gooodbye old ugly ones, make room for a new (hideable) piece on my side (to celebrate when my belly is no longer constantly rhymed with "jelly.")

I love all the tattoos!
I have gotten another tattoo since my last post as well (and another planned in September). This is healed over now, but the picture is from when it was fresh:



It is based on a Green Day logo from their most recent album, but the banner reads: Rage & Love. It is referencing a song called "Jesus of Suburbia". But the words are significant in my life because of my extreme emotions.

Original Logo:


I love what my artist did with it. <3

I am not sure how to post pictures on here. I have a sparrow with my late grandmothers dates on my right shoulder. My sisters name and funky triangle on my left wrist. twloha* on my right foot. I have a series of crescent moons on my right ankle. I have an eye with a tear (peace sign in the tear) on my left ankle. Eyes on my calves (that match my eyes) and that one I am not sure if I am gonna keep or cover. Oh, and I have 5 nautical stars across my lower back and a blue gecko "crawling" up my neck.

Let's see if this works. If it does I'll upload the rest! : )

I have a pair of antique scissors on my foot, with the lyrics from a favourite song, "It's only as dark as you make it", in honour of an ongoing battle with depression and a defeated battle with self-harm. It's like my anthem, haha!